When You Should Arrive in Hilo

All new international students should plan on arriving in Hilo on January 6. If you will be staying at an apartment or house off-campus, make arrangements to check in on January 6. Make sure your final destination is the Hilo airport (airport code ITO). Hilo is about a 45-minute flight from Honolulu, the capital city of the State of Hawai’i. The airlines that fly in to the Hilo airport are Hawaiian Airlines and United Airlines. Do not fly in to the Kona airport, since that is about a 2-hour drive from Hilo. Students on F-1 or J-1 visas cannot arrive in the United States more than 30 days before their program begins. The required orientation meeting for new international students will be held on January 7 in the morning so it is important that you arrive in Hilo by January 6. (If you arrive in Hilo before January 6, you will have to take a taxi from the airport to campus.)